The Maid - Unholy Acts In The Holiest Place (12)

Daring Escape (2)

Runaway Filipino Maid Claims She Was Raped  
By RODOLFO ESTIMO JR. 

RIYADH: A Filipino runaway staying in a villa some 250 km north of Riyadh has sought the assistance of the Philippine Embassy to get home, according to Vice Consul Roussel R. Reyes, Philippine Embassy officer–in-charge.
“The maid told us that she wanted to be with her two kids in the Philippines because she missed them,” he told Arab News on Wednesday.
He said that as soon as the staff of the embassy's Assistance to Nationals Section locate the villa where the maid and six other runaway maids are staying a team would be dispatched to ensure she is rescued.
The case of the maid, whose name is not being published to protect her privacy, was referred to the embassy after Arab News learned on Tuesday night that she wanted to go home.
Arab News contacted the maid after being notified of her situation by a community leader in Dammam.
The woman came to the Kingdom as a caregiver, but ended up as a maid earning SR800 a month.
Twelve days into this job, the sponsor returned her to the placement agency.
“My employer saw that working as maid, my nose was bleeding,” she said.
The agency was able to look for a job for her but worked for only 24 days because she claims her employer raped her.
“That was on Sept. 21, and on the same day I escaped and reported (the incident) to the agency, which did nothing when I complained that I was raped.
Eventually the agency got another job for me,” she said.
The six other maids do not want to be taken by the embassy because they are employed and do not want to return home.
“This is a simple case of human trafficking,” said a case officer at the Philippine Embassy.
“The six others do not want to go home because they are working.
Someone fetches them from their villa in the morning and brings them back in the evening.”
The officer said he suspected the person in charge of the maids has told the six maids who do not want to return home that if the embassy comes to rescue the maid they might also be taken in.
“This is something the six others don't like because they are working to earn,” he said.
“They don't want to go home yet.
That's also the reason why they asked Leonora (the pseudonym for the maid who wants to be rescued) to leave their accommodation.”
The officer pointed out that there are labor recruiting agencies that are accredited by the Saudi government but not by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO).
Only POLO-accredited agencies can be directly ordered to assist maids in their care.
“The embassy does not have any control over agencies (not accredited by POLO),” said the officer.

Source: Arab News - January 13, 2011

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Philippines Embassy narrowed its search for distress Leonora.

A text message was sent to them indicating the location of the villa, about two kilometers from Majmaa in Riyadh, about 250 km from Riyadh. 

The Pakistani men who looked after them did not allow her to venture out alone. 

Leonora was also scared to leave the villa and walk toward the city because she did not have an iqama or passport.

She claimed that she was asked by the six other runaway maids to leave the villa.

They were afraid that the embassy would also take them if and when the embassy rescues Leonora.

They did not want to go back to Philippines yet as they still want to continue working to earn.

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Another Run-Away Maid Seeks Embassy Help

RIYADH: A second maid of seven being housed illegally by a Pakistani man to be outsourced in the black labor market near Majmaa, Riyadh province, says she would like to return home.
“We are trying to locate the exact location of the villa where Ofie (not her real name), Leonora (not her real name) and five other maids are staying,” Philippine Embassy Charge dAffaires Ezzedin H. Tago told Arab News on Thursday.
The exact location of the villa where the women are illegally residing is unknown.
The house is believed to be located within two kilometers from Majmaa.
Leonora, who claims she was raped by her sponsor and later fled after he placement agency didnt respond to her complaint, has been trying to seek help from the Philippine Embassy to return home.
Meanwhile, the other six women residing at the villa have been urging Leonora to leave because they dont want to be discovered and deported.
Now one of those six women has reportedly come out saying she would also like to be repatriated.
Tago said that if and when the exact location of the villa can be ascertained, the embassy would rescue Ofie and Leonora in coordination with the local police.
The women do not have a clear idea of their precise location.
Talking to Arab News by phone Ofie said that she was working as a house cook and escaped from employer on Aug. 10.
“Before I went on vacation last year, my employer, a doctor working at the Security Forces Hospital, promised to increase my monthly salary from SR1,000 to SR1,200,” she said.
“But when I came back, his wife, who is a teacher, was giving me the same salary of SR1,000 she told me not to tell her husband about it.”
She added that the situation became worse when her employer hired another domestic worker, an Eritrean, with a salary of SR1,500.
“The Eritrean started giving orders to me and when I did not follow her she complained to the employers wife, saying that I did not want to work,” Ofie said.
Ofie said that she was being asked to work outside the kitchen.
“I told her that I had been hired mainly to cook food and do nothing else.
Besides, I wake up at 5 a.m. and she at 11 a.m.
She should have been be doing the things was asking me to do,” she said.
The circumstances took a turn for the worse when the Eritrean complained about Ofies work, angering the wife.
Ofie said she then contacted a Filipino beautician (who has since returned to the Philippines) and they agreed to leave their employers.
“Through another contact, we were able to reach the villa where were staying now.
Its also here where I met Leonora and the other maids who dont want to go home yet because they still want to work,” she said.
She said that she did not have money but if the embassy could bear the costs of her repatriation, shed like to go back to the Philippines to rejoin her family in Ifugao province north of Manila.
Ofie and her husband have three children.
The women work illegally and are being managed by a Pakistani man who could face jail time for housing and contracting workers who have fled their sponsors and now have illegal status in the Kingdom.

Source: A1 Saudi Arabia - January 21, 2011

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In the mean time, Leonora ventured out with an Indian woman and a Pakistani driver named Arshad.

They left the villa in Majmaa. 

Arshad was supposed to drop her at Diriyah, at a supermarket along Exit 10 in Riyadh. 

From there, she would call the embassy requesting someone to pick and brought her to Bahay Kalinga, BK, a temporary shelter for runaway maids run by members of the Filipino community. 

But the last call she made to the embassy  was to inform of being taken to the police station.

Embassy officials would seek the help of local authorities in Riyadh and Majmaa to find the Indian woman and Arshad, who might be involved in human trafficking.

******

Case Officer To Visit Filipino Maids In Prison

RIYADH: A Philippine Embassy case officer will visit a womens prison in Riyadhs Malaz district on Wednesday to talk to two Filipino maids arrested on suspicion of being runaways.
He will hope to speak to Leonora and Ofie (not their real names) regarding the circumstances surrounding their arrest by the police.
“The embassy has requested for a permit to visit Nisa prison in Malaz district so that I can talk to the two runaway maids whom the police arrested,” the officer handling the two maids case told Arab News on Monday.
The case officer made the statement after police called the embassy to say that they could not get any information from Leonora and Ofie regarding their case.
They had run away from their sponsors in Riyadh to Majmaa, but then decided to return to the capital.
The following day, the two maids were arrested by the police in a villa in Diriya with three Indian nationals.
“The police said that after giving few personal details such as their names, Leonora and Ofie clammed up when asked about their sponsors.
Its probable that they are trying not to unnecessarily incriminate others who might be involved in their case,” the case officer said. Leonora had given her name as Kristine Ali Noor.
“Much has been known about Leonora, whose case had also been reported by other newspapers catering for overseas Filipinos, but not Ofie.
Unlike Leonora, we dont even know her real name, which part of the country she comes from, if she has a family or not, and details of the Philippine agency that processed her papers for deployment to Saudi Arabia,” he said.
One newspaper published from Bahrain carried a story on Leonora, giving her name as Leonor.
Earlier, Leonora told Arab News that she arrived in the Kingdom in the middle of 2010 to work as a caregiver, but ended up working as a maid.
When she complained, her employers wife took her to the local agency that deployed her.
The agency placed her with another employer who allegedly raped her.
“Because of the incident, I escaped and went to the agency, which did nothing regarding my complaint,” she said.
The agency eventually looked for another employer, but as things were getting worse for Leonora, she escaped.
She and Ofie were helped by a Filipino woman to go to Majma.
Their helper has since gone back to the Philippines.

Source: A1 Saudi Arabia - February 15, 2011

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Stranded Filipino Maids To Be Repatriated  
By RODOLFO ESTIMO JR. 

RIYADH: The Philippine Embassy announced on Monday that two Filipino housemaids caught with three Indian nationals in a villa in Diriyah in February would soon be repatriated to the Philippines.

Leonora and Ofie (not their real names) are still being held at a women’s jail in the Malaz district in Riyadh.
“Leonora’s documents are now being prepared.
Then it will be sent to the governor’s office for approval.
After that, a plane ticket will be issued,” an embassy official told Arab News on Monday.
He added that Ofie’s travel documents had been processed earlier and a plane ticket would also be issued to her.
“A plane ticket is normally issued by the Saudi government.
Otherwise, the embassy will provide it,” he added.
He also said that Leonora, who was imprisoned in February, had been sentenced to four months in prison and 70 lashes.
Her prison term ends next week.
He added that Ofie’s travel documents had been issued earlier because she did not receive a custodial sentence.
“Maybe it was because she was able to convince police authorities that she was merely a victim and not doing anything wrong,” the official said, adding that Leonora was unhappy that she had been jailed instead.
In February, Arab News reported that Leonora and Ofie went missing after leaving their villa in Majma, some 250 km north of Riyadh.
They were already in Diriyah when Leonora allegedly called the embassy to say that they had been arrested by the police.
“It was not true that the police stopped them,” the embassy official said.
“The truth is, it was only Leonora who was dropped by a Pakistani driver in Diriyah.
Ofie, who was romantically linked with one of the three Indians, had earlier left Majma for Diriyah in Riyadh,” he said.
He added that it was obvious Leonora had asked the driver to drop her in Diriyah as per an earlier arrangement with Ofie.
The embassy official added that early one morning police caught them with the three Indians.
Ofie was reportedly drunk and shouting.
“The neighbors probably called and complained to the police.
The police responded and found out that Leonora, who gave her Muslim name as Kristine Ali Noor, and Ofie were with the three Indians,” he said.
Leonora had earlier told Arab News that she asked the driver to drop her in front of a supermarket.
The driver was also reportedly having an affair with one of five other Filipino runaway maids in Majma.
From the supermarket, she was supposed to call the embassy and ask officials to pick her up and take her to the Bahay Kalinga (BK), a government shelter where stranded Filipino women stay while awaiting repatriation to the Philippines.
Leonora, who had been separated from her husband before she left the Philippines for Saudi Arabia, comes from Baguio City north of Manila.
She has three kids who are being looked after by her mother.
Before coming to Saudi Arabia, she had worked in a gasoline station and a restaurant in Baguio City. Ofie, on the other hand, is from Ifugao.

Source: Arab News - May 3, 2011

The Maid - Unholy Acts In The Holiest Place (11)

Daring Escape

A newly arrived Asian housemaid, in her 20s, had a fall three days ago, from the third floor of a residential building in Alkhobar, eastern town of Damman, Saudi Arabia.

She made the run away attempt from the seventh floor apartment through a kitchen window.
She then clung to pipes stuck to the building and started to slide down.
Upon reaching the third floor, the pipes collapsed due to her weight and she hit the ground, where she met the fatal fall.
Arab News reported she was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries but later died at the hospital.

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Another death fall befell on a housemaid in her 40s, in an attempt to flee her sponsor's house in Makkah.

She was trying to escape through sanitary pipes along with her personal belongings.
Okaz / Saudi Gazzette reported the “homesick” housemaid arrived in the Kingdom two months ago in March, only to find death the next month, in the second week of April.

The housemaid suffered multiple fractures of her arms and legs.
She suffered from brain hemorrhage too, which caused her death.

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Early this year, January 12, Arabic language daily Almadina reported yet another Indonesian housemaid's death.

The female migrant worker sneaked through the bathroom’s window in an attempt to flee her employer.
She went up to the roof of the the fourth floor building in the central town of Makkah.
Once there, she found a rope, dangled it down to reach the ground.
She then tried to climb down using the rope, but lost her balance and plunged down.

The maid laid on the ground for nearly 15 minutes before she died.

She was found by residents who were leaving a mosque after prayers.

****** 

Photo: ist

PT Aji Ayahbunda Sejati (AAS), flew then 19-year old Armayeh binti Sanuri, from Teluk Lerang, Kuala Mandor, in the district of Kuala Mandor, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, to Saudi Arabia.

She started working for the family of Hasim Ahmad Ali Bader Saeni and Madam Hanan Hasim in Madinah on March 24, 2009.

Armayeh admitted of receiving almost daily abuse and mistreatment from her female employer since the third month into her job.

Wounds and pus on her head.

Her head was often stepped on.

She suffered infectious ears, and were almost torn-like.

She was poured hot water too.

She could bear no longer. 

She seized the opportunity to flee from her working place when the door was not locked.

With wounds all over, she fled on January 26 at 3.30pm.

A neighbour, another Saudi citizen, who happened to spot her critical plight, helped to rush her to Al Ansar Hospital in Madinah at 10pm.

The medical staff immediately called the Indonesian Consulate General.
The Indonesian Consulate has agreements with some Saudi hospitals to notify the embassy or consulate, should an Indonesian national be admitted.

Armayeh's serious condition led her hospital stay transferred to King Fahad Hospital in Jeddah.
She underwent plastic surgery performed by team from King Abdullah Hospital at 1am.
She is currently, still receiving treatment.

Her female employer, Madam Hanan Hasin had been arrested.
Before the arrest was made, her employer visited Armayeh at the hospital.
The girl was offered SR18,000 (Rp 52.9 million) for her change of statement.
The offer was flatly turned down.

Although her salary is SR800 per month, she had just sent home SR6.000 Riyal (Rp 14,3 million) to her parents, during her 23 months stint in the Kingdom.

PT Aji Ayahbunda Sejati (AAS), who made Armayeh's presence possible in Saudi Arabia, bear full responsibility of the girl's welfare.

Her family was provided initial financial assistance of Rp 25 million (SR10,500), with insurance of Rp 100 million yet to receive.

PT Aji Ayah Bunda Sejati brought the parents of now 20-year old Armayeh binti Sanuri, to Saudi Arabia to see first hand of their daughter's condition.
The company provides their needs while in Saudi.

****** 

From Frying Pan To Fire Runaway Maids End Up In Harsher Conditions

JEDDAH: Housemaids who flee their sponsors due to bad working conditions to seek work in the black labor market often end up in a situation of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

In many cases they find themselves at the mercy of sleazy labor brokers who send them to work illegally in conditions that are little different from the legal situations, and often much worse. 
“They seize our IDs, lock us up in secluded rooms and make us live in very difficult conditions, which is no less than indentured servitude,” a maid told Arab News on condition she not be named.
Nuriyyah, an Indonesian maid who has been working for two years in Saudi Arabia, describes the situation she found herself in as “slavery” after being legally recruited and brought to the Kingdom. The wage she ended up receiving was not enough to feed her family back home.
“My sponsor often delayed my payment under the pretext that he had other pressing commitments,” she said. “I had no other choice but to flee.”
Nuriyyah said she lived in a small apartment after her escape with a large number of illegal housemaids who came for Haj or Umrah and overstayed their pilgrimage visas.  She said the man who ran the house essentially acted as an illegal-labor broker.
But what Nuriyyah discovered is that people who hire maids illegally often end up being worse than employers who seek workers through legal channels and at greater expense.  “The new employer and his wife used to beat and humiliate me all the time,” she said. “They also took my iqama. I served them for my food only.”
The maid says she has never been paid for her work. Eventually she fled her illegal employers. She ended up under the Sitteen Bridge, a congregation point for foreign laborers who have fled their sponsors in the hope they will be picked up by the police and deported.
Another Indonesian maid, who did not want to be named, said though she had been an adventurer all her life and would work hard to earn money, she had fears that she might fall victim to inhuman practices on the hands of her new employers.
“I now live in a small house with a large number of illegal African and Asian housemaids,” she said. “The brokers who distribute us among their customers do not care much for what will happen to us. They are only after money.”
She added that she was living in very difficult conditions in this house but her need for money would force her to continue.
The unidentified Indonesian housemaid said she witnessed her co-workers being beaten by merciless employers who know that illegal domestic servants are essentially hostages with few choices.
“Many housemaids had similar experiences but were finally able to make some money and go back home. In order to succeed, you have to take chances,” she said.
Commenting on the issue, spokesman for Jeddah police Col. Misfer Al-Juaid said many of the houses that accommodate runaway maids are found in the districts of Al-Bawadi, Ghulail and Kandara.
“We carry out weekly raids on such houses after identifying them,” he said. “We arrest the illegal residents, take their fingerprints before handing them over to the Passport Department for deportation.”
After these workers end up in the custody of Saudi immigration authorities, a long process for exit clearance takes place. Often these workers have no ID because their passports are with the employers from whom they fled. Saudi authorities must work with foreign missions to establish identities and check for criminal backgrounds before they can be sent home. 
Al-Juaid pointed out that an illegal worker can be exposed to more abuse than legal workers, because sponsors are aware that there is little recourse for reporting or challenging abusive situations. “The illegal housemaids bear all these inhuman treatment in order not to be caught by the passport police and sent back home,” he added.
The most common form of maid abuse is not paying salaries, followed by physical and sexual abuse. The Saudi authorities do not offer statistics of the number of abuse cases reported to them, but the problem is acute enough that labor rights activists and foreign missions – especially of Indonesia and the Philippines – maintain shelters for fleeing maids, especially women.
Supervisor of the National Society for Human Rights in Makkah province Hussain Al-Sharif described violence against housemaids as inhuman and un-Islamic.
“Just because they are paying them money, some employers will come to believe that they literally own their housemaids and they have the right to ask them to do anything,” he said.
Al-Sharif agreed with Al-Juaid, saying that illegal workers face a greater chance of being abused with impunity.
“Violence against housemaids, whether they are legal or illegal stayers, is inhuman and totally against Islam,” he added. “We completely reject such practices and deplore exploitation of any human being.”
Al-Sharif asked all employers to consider the pressing conditions that drove the housemaids to come all they way from their countries in the first place. The main reason is remittances, the money they can save up to send home to feed their children or other family members. Not paying a maid could mean a child back home goes without food, clothing or medicines.

Source: A1 Saudi Arabia - January 12, 2011

to be continued...

The Maid - Her Right? Of Having Male Friend (2)

31-year old Ruliyawati was flown directly to Semarang, Central Java with a Lion Air flight Y 864 at 10:35 a.m. local time.
It arrived in Semarang at 11:40 a.m. today Friday morning.

Her body  was discovered on Monday morning, in a water tank serving residents of  Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, in one of the eight, 2-meter-deep water tank in the building atop the 15-storey Housing Development Board block of flats in Woodlands.
She had been working there, for an employer identified only as Wang, on the sixth floor.

From Kendal, Central Java, Ruliyawati was reported to have entered Singapore in July 2010, finding work through Indonesian placement agency, PT Dafa Putra Jaya.

MigrantCARE, an NGO focusing on migrant worker issues has called on the Indonesian government to immediately take charge of the legal proceedings pertaining to the alleged murder of Ruliyawati.

She was married and had a four-year-old son in Indonesia.

Bangladeshi cleaner, 27-year old Md Repon Mostafa, was charged with her murder between 7:10 a.m. and 9:54 a.m.

The case is still being investigates by the local authorities.
The police was informed at about 10 a.m., believed to have been placed by a colleague of the suspect, an employee of Sergent Services Pte. Ltd., which offers conservancy services.

The suspect killer may have had access to the roof as part of his job as a maintenance worker.
He was limping and had cuts on his legs when he was led away by the police at 10.40am.
He was remanded for investigation at the Singapore Central Police Division for a week.
If convicted, he would face the death penalty.

******

Ruliyawati was described as petite and attractive.
Her family's financial problems forced her to come to Singapore, leaving behind her child.

Both migrant workers met just a month after she started work here in August last year.

It was almost a near-daily routine for Ruliyawati to go to the minimart for newspapers or canned food for her employers while her man and his friends would buy groceries or newspapers from the minimart in the evening.

They can be seen chatting at the void deck of Block 686B, or having a heated argument.
The couple often quarreled at the void deck and in secluded stairwells at the block, and these tiffs revolved around Ruliyawati's family.

But on the Monday morning, stormy relationship ended for good when the Bangladeshi cleaner placed the Indonesian maid's body in one of eight rooftop water tanks.

******

Some residents of Block 686B, called the Sembawang Town Council to complain of slightly yellowish and unnaturally foamy water when they turned on their taps on Monday morning.
Instead, their water supply was cut off at 11am, citing 'maintenance work' was being done.

Some assumed that the water pipes were malfunctioning.
It was only later in the day that the horrifying news spread that an Indonesian maid working there had been found dead in one of eight water tanks atop the 15-storey block.

One resident reported seeing bloodstains in the lift and blood droplets at the lift landing.

The stories circulated quickly and residents rushed to the foot of the block to draw water from the washing area at the void deck.
168 households may have had their drinking water supply affected by the housemaid's body.
Residents were seen queuing up with pails and pots to draw water from the washing area.
Some residents were upset that they had been using water not knowing it may have been contaminated.

The PUB received a report of the incident at 3.30pm.
Water supply was immediately stopped.
Water bags were hand out to residents and water supply restored after the town council flushing and washing the tanks and distribution pipes.

Police received a call informing them of the dead body at 10am.
The Indonesian domestic helper was pronounced dead at 1pm.

Some residents recalled hearing screams and a couple arguing loudly in the morning at 7am.
No police report was made as it was thought to be just a domestic tiff.
Some residents witnessed a man and woman arguing with each other on Monday morning.
The man was seen choking the woman.

****** ****** ******

Singapore's High Court sentenced to death in early January 2010, 35-year old Kamarul Hasan Abdul Quddus, a Bangladeshi worker involved in a love triangle with an Indonesian maid, 25-year old Yulia Afriyanti, more than two years earlier.

Kamarul Hasan was found guilty of strangling his girlfriend Yulia, on December 16, 2007.
Her time of death was estimated to be about 4.16am that day.

But the Bangladeshi construction worker claimed she was dead when he found her.
He claimed he was asleep in his dormitory the night she was murdered.

During the 15-day-trial, Kamrul has stuck to his story that he had last seen Yulia on the evening of December 15, 2007 near her employer's house in Grange Road, got into intimate relationship at a nearby park, then left at 9pm.

They planned to meet again nine hours later at his worksite at the Viz@Holland condominium, and had inadvertently taken her phone back with him when they parted at 9pm.
He stayed in the dorm until about 4am to meet her again.

He had gone to meet her at his worksite earlier, as she had complained that a man he knew as Joseph was trying to force her to go to the airport and a hotel that night.

He took a taxi there, and claimed he found her naked body stuffed in a cardboard box in a storeroom of a third-floor unit.
He said he was so frightened that he kept mum about his grisly find.

******

An ez-link card found on Kamarul had been used for a trip from Kaki Bukit to Queensway at about midnight.

Phone records showed that between 1.45am and 2.10am, there were text messages between Kamarul and Yulia, five missed calls from him and one successful call.

DNA evidence revealed that he had  sexual relationship with the 25-year-old Indonesian maid within the 12 hours before she was found dead at the condominium worksite in Queensway where he worked.

Police found Yulia's phone and jewellery in his Kaki Bukit dormitory locker when he was arrested on December 19.

He claimed the watch and jewellery which had Yulia's DNA on these items, found  in his locker were not hers, but items he had bought for his wife back home.

But Yulia's employer testified that she had bought the watch and used it before giving it to her maid.

The employer and some of the 69 witnesses had also testified that Ms Yulia told them she and Kamrul would be welcoming his mother and a younger sibling at the airport on the day she was found dead.

Yulia's body was found by a construction worker Md Avir Ramijuddinmiah at about 9.50am on 16 Dec 2007.
He informed his supervisor, who then alerted the project's main contractor.

Her naked body was found in a big 1m long and 3/4m wide cardboard box in the bomb shelter of a third-storey unit at a condominium construction site in Queensway, near Holland Road, where Kamarul Hasan had worked.
She is alleged to have died at the hands of her lover in a crime of passion.

******

Kamrul met Yulia at a social gathering, introduced by a mutual friend in 2005.
They became intimate a year later in January 2007, and would meet once or twice a month.

In September the same year, she told her employers and friends that she was returning to Indonesia and would be marrying Kamrul there.

But a month later, the marriage was called off.

Yulia confided in her employers that Kamrul was already married in Bangladesh with two children.

At the same time, Kamrul was back in Bangladesh in September and October 2007.

In mid December, Yulia met Kamrul while taking the dog for its evening walk from a residence in Grange Road.
He then returned to his dormitory in Kaki Bukit but at 11.30pm, he took a bus to his worksite.

Less than eight hours later, a construction worker found Yulia's body in the cardboard box.

His (Kamarul) fingerprints were found at the crime scene and DNA test showed they had sexual relationship before her death.
The evidence thus proved that the accused strangled the deceased.

******

 
Yulia's number was given to the above, 25-year old Joseph Guerzon Corpuza, a Filipino construction worker here, in early October 2007.
Aunt Annabelle, a close friend of his, introduced the couple.

He called her on that very day and they made plans to meet on her day off on Sunday, October 14.

They spent the afternoon at the East Coast Park before window shopping at City Plaza.
He then took her to her employer's house at Grange Heights.
She told him that she had a boyfriend but had returned to Bangladesh.

Their relationship blossomed.
They too became intimate, planned to marry but she never broke up with Kamrul.
They continued their frequent and intimate telephone conversations.

Beside Sundays' meetings, he would sometimes travel from Boon Lay to Grange Heights to meet her when she walked her employer's dog at the condominium at 8 pm every night.

They had sexual relationship in November despite Yulia's fear of getting pregnant again.
The pregnancy was aborted.
He was not informed who the father was.
It was on one of those Sunday meeting when Yulia asked Joseph to answer her phone from Kamrul.
Kamarul had planned to marry Yulia.

The last time Joseph saw Yulia alive was on Dec 9, 2007, and it was then that she told him she was still deeply in love with her former boyfriend Kamrul Hasan, and that they were getting married in January.

Yulia was in a love triangle with Kamrul and Joseph, before she finally decided on Kamarul.

She offered to return the handphone Joseph had given her but he declined as he wanted to keep in touch with her and try to win her over.
Joseph was heartbroken despite telling Yulia to take care of herself when on the evening of December 15, when she called to tell him she was going to Changi Airport with Kamrul to welcome his mother and brother.

Although Kamarul told the court that Yulia had called him to complain that Joseph was allegedly forcing her to have a relationship, Joseph did not even know the location of the condominium.
He was at home on the day the crime was committed.

He tried to contact her many times but failed to do so.
In court, Joseph identified the phone he had given to her.

When he managed to phone Yulia a few days after Yulia talk of her marriage plan to Kamarul, a police officer answered, saying his former girlfriend was dead and that the police wanted to talk to him.

The Maid - Squeezing Dry The Employers (4)

Maid Via The Black Market

KUALA LUMPUR – Freelance recruitment agents are making big bucks by supplying maids to Malaysian employers through the 'black market.'
A probe by national daily The Star showed that the continuing high demand for Indonesian domestic helpers, despite a temporary ban in place, has created this lucrative, albeit illegal,  recruitment of maids.
Most pf the people involved are freelance individuals - who dubbeed themselves as agents - who have contact with similar kind of people in Indonesia.
Both parties are not tied to any associations in their respective countries.
Therefore, they can supply maids “under the radar” despite the supply freeze imposed nearly a year ago by the Indonesian government.
Hefty increase in recruitment fee
One 'agent' here told the paper that business had been good despite a hefty increase in the recruitment fee.
Before the freeze, the recruitment fee charged by an agency was about RM5,000, inclusive of payments for levy, work permit, airfare and six months' salary.
Now, the fee can go as high as RM10,000.
An executive from Bukit Mertajam said it was difficult to raise RM9,400 for the agent but she was desperate to get help to look after her mother.
The woman, who gave her name only as Tan, said the agent agreed to get a maid from Indonesia provided she (Tan) personally applies to the Immigration Department for a one-year calling visa to allow the helper to work here.
Discussion between PM and Susilo
It is learnt that a high-level meeting held last Friday between the Home Ministry and Indonesia's Manpower and Transmigration Ministry finally broke the impasse on the issue between the two countries.
A memorandum of understanding on maids is expected to be signed during the visit here of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The signing will be witnessed by the Indonesian president and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak after their retreat on Tuesday.— Malaysian Mirror.

Source: Malaysian Mirror - Monday, May 17, 2010  

****** 

I was approached by a number of friends in JB who asked me to get maids, or helpers from Batam, as I often visit the place. 

Sad it seem, the shortage of maids really affect normalcy in some households I know. 

I know of Indonesians from faraway, stationing themselves in Batam, hoping to work in country across it.

Ironically, I was approached by a number of Indonesians in Batam who made their wish known to Me. 

They wanted My help. 

They wanted to work, any type of work available, in Singapore (???) 

I was even approached by someone who was prepared to provide rotating female house helpers, again, to work in Singapore. 

When I mentioned of knowing many households in JB that need helpers, they were not keen, as they work for money, and they go after the exchange rate. 

****** 

Indonesian Women Slaves Saved from Malaysian Hell

Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian authorities rescued 71 Indonesian women who claimed they were forced to work long hours as cleaners without pay for at least two years, an official said Monday.

Immigration officials raided a house where the women were staying after three of them fled and alerted authorities, said Nar Azaman Ibrahim, the immigration enforcement chief of Malaysia’s northern Kedah state. The women were kept at the house and sent to different homes for daily cleaning jobs.

The women entered neighboring Malaysia through a migrant worker recruitment agent who promised to find them work as maids for 500 ringgit ($160) a month. But when they arrived, the man took away their passports and forced them to clean homes every day without any time off, Nar Azaman said.

Most of the women, including one as young as 17, had never been paid, but were promised they would receive money eventually, Nar Azaman said.

The man who held them has been arrested and could be charged with human trafficking, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 15 years.

The women are now at a shelter in an illegal migrant detention center near Kuala Lumpur.

Nearly 2 million foreigners, mostly from poorer regional countries, work in Malaysia’s construction, plantation, manufacturing and service industries. Claims of overwork, unpaid salaries and sometimes even physical abuse are common. - Associated Press.

Source: The Jakarta Globe - July 26, 2010

******

Safi invited us to her house-warming.  

When we reached Safi's house, I could see that Zah was reluctant to leave the car. 

Tears trickled from her eyes. 

I was happy for Safi. 

She got the resale corner-lot house, with mango tree loaded of ready-to-eat, ready-to-pluck fruits.

The house is strategically located not far from Giant Supermarket and other amenities, at a great bargain price, less than RM200,000. 

Wasn't Zah happy for Safi too?  

I had it all wrong, she said. 

She was happy for Safi, but was terribly hurt by the previous owner of the house. 

Zah used to drop by that particular house. 

The previous owner,who owns a maid agency, used to be her good friend for many, many years. 

Naturally, she turned to her this good friend for maids. 

She never failed her, not until the last time, about a year ago. 

After she gave her a deposit of RM3,000 for a new maid, after a three months lapse, she called her, no answer. 

She dropped by her place, nobody at home. 

She did not want to lose a valued friendship at the cost of only RM3,000. 

Now, after slightly more than a year, Zah is still without maid. 

She asked Me to help her getting one in Batam, but I have not the heart to tell her that they will work anytime if it is Singapore.

I asked her to tag with Me along to Batam.

I  promised her I'll get help from friend over there to bring us to the place where maid agency placed their potential house-helpers.  

But Zah would still prefer her good friend where agency is concerned. 

Such a loyal friend! 

She knew her friend is in great difficulties, especially at the time when Indonesian maids' entry to Malaysia is still pending.

When Zah knew that Safi bought the house she used to spend her evenings, her heart thumped aloud. 

The maid agency owner knew Zah is looking for a house very badly. 

And, Zah had umpteenth times told her, should she intended to sell her house, Zah is the first ready buyer.

Instead, she sold it to Zah's other good friend, which she wasn't aware of.

******

Good Help Is Harder To Find 
By JOSEPH LOH  

Malaysians are grousing that hiring foreign maids these days is more costly and time-consuming, and recruitment agencies say the situation may well continue if certain problems in the industry are not addressed.
WHEN work commitments for Tan S.K. and his wife demanded more of their time, it left them less for domestic matters. He then decided to hire a foreign maid to help with chores around the house and to look after his two young children.
He soon discovered that hiring a foreign maid could be a frustrating process. The time needed before they could get the maid was lengthy, not to mention the initial cost involved.

Feeling at home: Although other countries pay better salaries, Indonesian maids are more comfortable working in Malaysia as there is no language barrier and they are free to practise their religion.

“From the time that I approached a maid agency to actually getting one took six months. I also had to fork out about RM7,500 even before I saw her in person.
“Furthermore, the maid was unsuitable and we requested a replacement — and we had to go through the whole process again. Fortunately, it only took about three months the second time,” Tan says.
This meant it took nine months before he had a live-in maid. With all the hassle he had to go through — not to mention the addition of another person to the household — Tan has decided not to hire another when the current contract expires.
“I don’t know how much a maid is going to cost me in future, and with what I have gone through, I don’t feel it is worth the hassle. I will probably look for part-time maid services then.”
Tan’s experience is one that is becoming increasingly common, but this is a situation that has been developing over the last five years.
According to Malaysian Association Of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, the most obvious reason is there is a shortage of maids from Indonesia, where Malaysia obtains about 95% of its maids.
“We are not only facing a shortage but an acute shortage! It is very serious, and our business has dropped by about 60%,” he says, adding that the situation worsened considerably over the last two years.
Raja Zulkepley informs that maids from other countries such as Cambodia and the Philippines are allowed, but the popular choice is Indonesia mainly because of lower wages lower compared to other countries.
“Malaysians prefer Indonesians as they are very good. They suit the job demands here, and communication is less of a problem,” he says.

"The salary is in line with the cost of living here"- FIONA LOW

Unpopular choice
Potential employers may find difficulty in obtaining a maid, but those facing bigger pressure are the maid agencies themselves. Describes Agensi Pekerjaan Sentosa SB director K.C. Lau, “The last two years were particularly bad, but from the end of 2004, we could feel it was getting difficult. This could be because Hong Kong and Taiwan opened up to hiring foreign maids.
“I have much difficulty meeting my target – it was a lot easier before. I could easily obtain 20 to 30 maids from each supplier back then, but can only get about four or five now.”
Lam*, from a KL-based agency, says her recruitment has reduced by 40%.
“Three years ago, I could obtain 500 maids a month, now it is less than 300,” she says, adding that many smaller agencies have stopped operating or want to sell their licences.
Agensi Pekerjaan Sri Nadin Sdn Bhd general manager Fiona Low, however, believes there is no shortage of potential maids in Indonesia. “People there know how to compare (between countries) and can choose where they want to go, and this affects the volume coming in.”
Raja Zulkepley believes there are many reasons why the supply of maids from Indonesia is dwindling. One is that the maids themselves, and the recruitment agencies, prefer other countries.
It essentially boils down to a matter of dollars and cents. Other countries pay higher salaries than Malaysia, he says. For example, maids in Taiwan are paid about RM2,400 a month; Hong Kong, RM1,700; Singapore and the Middle East, RM800. In Malaysia they are paid about RM600.
But Low believes that this should not be a factor. “The salary is what we (Malaysians) can offer at the moment, and it is in line with the cost of living here. You cannot compare this with other countries.”
She adds, “Not all maids are looking at the prospect of money — it is to do with their comfort level. Malaysia is still one of the nearest countries, has the same religion, and some may also have relatives here.”
Lam disagrees, insisting that the wage disparity cannot be ignored.
“Wages here are very low compared to other countries. If you were a maid, where would you want to go?”
Furthermore, there is a difference in which party has to pay for getting the maid into the country.
Says Lau, “Under the Malaysian system, both employer and maid have to pay (respective agencies) money, but in the Middle East, the employer pays everything. The maids just go there to work. Most have to take a loan to come to Malaysia, but not so for the Middle East.”
Lam adds that for countries like Taiwan, maids are even willing to pay recruiters for the opportunity to work there.
Question of cost
Another point is that maid suppliers in Indonesia are paid higher agency fees by other countries compared to Malaysia, reveals Lau.
“Other countries are giving higher agency fees, so in order to be competitive, we have to give higher fees too. From the year 2005, it has almost doubled. Last time, we paid about RM3,000 for each maid. Now it is about RM5,000 to RM6,000,” he says.
Adds Low, “This is a free market and (trade) depends on a willing buyer and seller. If somebody has a better offer, you will have to pay more than usual.”
A common complaint among employers is the high cost involved in obtaining a maid from Indonesia. Currently, one has to pay at least RM7,500.
“People always put the blame on local maid agencies, and say we are making excess profits, but this is something beyond our control,” says Raja Zulkepley.
The actual cost is significantly less, Low says. “Actually, employers only pay about RM4,500 to get a maid.”
She explains that in most instances, the maid will not have to be paid for the first six months.
“The additional sum is a loan of sorts that employers give to the maid,” she says, adding that this is usually used to pay for miscellaneous expenses such as travel and training received in Indonesia.
Negative perception
Another factor is that Malaysia is perceived by some as a bad country to work in.
“The reputation of Malaysia is very bad,” says Raja Zulkepley. One reason for this is abuse cases in Malaysia are excessively highlighted in the press.
“There are also similar cases of abuse in Singapore, Taiwan, or the Middle East, for example, but they are not played up as much, so they think that Malaysia is not a good country,” he says.
Lam agrees, saying: “In Malaysia, it will be in the news for a few weeks and then we forget about it. But it is different in Indonesia; it can drag on for months!”
This is compounded by the fact that significant numbers of Indonesians are working illegally in the country.
“Because of this they are not protected and many are not treated fairly by employers — ranging from not getting paid to being abused. When these girls go home, they spread the word,” says Raja Zulkepley.
On the time span involved in getting a maid, Raja Zulkeply says it takes a long time to complete the procedure before maids can work in the country.
“Bringing foreign maids into our country will incur a lot of red tape. Sometimes it can take as long as two to three months,” he explains, adding that in this time, suppliers incur the cost of providing for the maids’ board and lodging.
He gives the example of Singapore, where approvals can be obtained within two or three days. For the Middle East, block visas are provided, with specific individual visas given upon arrival.
Lam points out a loophole where employers can send maids home without informing the agency.
“This can give rise to many problems such as abuse, rape or unpaid salaries. The employer can send them home and agencies or the Government won’t know anything about it. If they have to go through the agency there will be better control.”
Raja Zulkepley believes that Papa can play a significant role in streamlining the industry. “In order to become more efficient, all Malaysian maid agencies must be members of Papa. This was actually approved by the Immigration Department in June 2007, but has never been enforced.”
New source countries
One major benefit, he says, is that as a united front, it can get better rates from the suppliers. He says that Papa has also called for the reduction of the minimum age of incoming Indonesian maids from 21 to 18 in addition to calling for new source countries — China in particular.
But until then, local maid agencies have to work within existing constraints.
Says Lau, “Fortunately, our profits are about the same, but capital investment has gone up considerably. We could make one Ringgit for every two spent before, but now we need four! And who wants to raise their prices? This is bad for business! If we keep it low, everyone can afford a maid.”
Low believes the difficulty in obtaining maids will remain as the status quo.
“It is already like this. We hope that people will understand the difficulties and be more tolerant.”
Concludes Lam, “The cost of recruiting maids rose faster than the price of petrol! Many things in the industry are out of our control, and keep in mind that we are dealing with humans, not products. This line of work is very difficult, and I am tired and find it very hard to continue. We may have been able to make good money last time, but not any more.”
* Name has been changed.

Source: The Star - Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Maid - Unholy Acts In The Holiest Place (5)

Up until October 29 last year, errant Saudi sponsors forced to cough up a total of SR3,717,635 million in unpaid salaries of 937 Indonesian housemaids.
Some of them had not been paid for 13 years.

Of the total, 617 housemaids returned to Indonesia, and 320 went back to their sponsors.
About 80 to 90% eventually get their wages back.
The remaining 10 to 15% are runaways who have worked for just 15 days to three months.

******

67-year old Sumiati Bint Mohammad Badri, from Cilacap in Central Java, worked for her sponsor in Mecca in 1993.
The sponsor used to say that her money was in the bank, but Sumiati was never paid for her service for nine years.

When the sponsor's family of 11 brothers split up, he sent her to work at his mother's house, where she spent seven years.
When the sponsor's mother died, her sons paid her SR50,400.

Sumiati went to the Indonesian consulate to get back the previous nine years wages that amounts to SR64,800.

******

In 2008 - 2010, there were 90 female migrant workers from Cilacap and 24 from Banyumas in Central Java who suffered various abuses.

Up to last year, there were 124 physical abuses.
More than 50 others, were abused sexually.

One of them is 35-year old Surti, from Pemijen in Sokaraja, Banyumas, Central Java, who managed to flee.
.

******

Kuswati from Kaliwedi, in Kebasen, Banyumas, Central Java, left for Saudi Arabia in October 18, 1992 with PT Duta Wibawa.

She wrote home in January 1993 to inform she worked for an employer in Al Baha.

Her elder brother, Muhtarom, replied the letter.
It was later returned, as the address he wrote, was unknown.
Communication was immediately stopped since then.

PT Duta Wibawa, the maid agency that flew his sister to the kingdom, was of not much help.

He then wrote a letter to the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah last year, asking for assistance.
His now 38-years old younger sister, had disappeared for more than 18 year.

In a reply, the consulate claimed, there's no Indonesian housemaid known as Kuswati, working in the kingdom.

******

Ina, from Perwokerto, Banyumas in Central Java was back in her country, last Friday.
She was relieved when the aeroplane touched down at Soekarno-Hatta Airport at Tangerang, Banten.

She flew home, courtesy of the Indonesian government.

She had been living under the Kandara bridge in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for more than a year.
She was in Saudi Arabia since 2007 but chose to run away 18 months ago.

The son of Ina's employer often locked her in the bathroom.
She was denied of visit to hospital nor medication on her sick days.

The National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) had repatriated troubled migrant workers from Saudi Arabia.

The Indonesian government had allocated fund of Rp128 billion for its troubled citizens, after violating their residence permit.

The repatriations were conducted in  three stages of overstayers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The series started on Monday February 14, with the first repatriation of 301 Indonesian overstayer citizens, who lived under the Khandara Bridge in Jeddah, consisting of 234 women, 27 kids, and 40 infants.

The second, on Friday February 18, repatriating 335 Indonesian overstayers - 302 female, 15 children, and 19 infants, residing under the Khandara Bridge too.

There are no more Indonesian citizen lives under the Khandara Bridge, for now.

However, there are still overstayers in Jeddah who lives in tahril (shelter) at the immigration office.
They stay together with thousands of offenders from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

The tahril capacity, suitable for ten thousand people, was insufficient.
It  forced the Saudi Arabian government to add another shelter for them in the House of Madinatul Hujjaj, Jeddah, to accommodate tens of thousands offenders from various countries
. 
Yesterday, the last repatriation, managed to send home those migrant workers who have had problems with their jobs.

They were some 350 Indonesians - 286 female, 21 children and 43 infants.

The Maid - Unholy Acts In The Holiest Place (2)

Two female migrant workers in Saudi Arabia who are suffering permanent injuries are currently being treated in their hometowns in West Nusa Tenggara.

60 more housemaids from Dompu in West Nusa Tenggara are awaiting to be sent home.

25-year old Yanti Yusepa from West Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara went to Saudi Arabia on August 29 and returned to Indonesia on October 6, paralysed from the waist down after jumping from a second-story window to get away from what she called chronically abusive employers.
She is waiting for her insurance payout: If there is.
Within the short period, she worked for three different families in Saudi Arabia, fleeing from the first two after they starved and physically abused her.
The third family was most cruel - the daughters would burn her with a hot iron while their mother would beat her.
The abuse on her drove her to jump from second floor window.
“Not a single person was willing to help me when they saw me fall.”

According to her, at least 26 more have also been abused by their employers, in some cases sexually.

27-year-old Selvia from Sumbawa, a district of West Nusa Tenggara, returned home in July 2010.
She worked for her employer as a domestic worker in Nabuk.
But the employer made her doing a back-breaking work.
She did just that: Lifting heavy gas canisters.
It broke her back.
It takes her a great effort to bend, or to walk.
And, Selvia is unable to walk properly.
She is partially paralysed since 2007.

Warni Binti Mahrip, a domestic helper, died after she fell from the upper floor of her employer’s home, also in Tabuk, on June 4.

And Nurul Binti Muhtar Lano, died four months later in October, due to illness.

The bodies wil be sent back to Lombok, in West Nusa Tenggara.

******

Such stories are common, but only receive sporadic attention.
The recently discovered horrific abuse of Sumiati, from West Nusa Tenggara too, let others knew that now, more than 350 domestic workers from West Nusa Tenggara are currently stationed overseas and may be facing abuse or inhumane working conditions.

About 52 workers from the province were living under a Saudi bridge, awaiting repatriation.
Sumiati, an 18-year old girl led an unusual protest.
It even made Saudi Arabia's labour ministry bowed to say a very rare sorry.

West Nusa Tenggara, is the second biggest district to send workers abroad after West Java.
But in terms of percentage, it is the biggest.

Many women in West Nusa Tenggara, especially in remote areas, are still unaware of their rights as housewives, and the condition is concerning, a local family welfare activist said.
They are in a weak position in the family and had no choice but accept their husbands' ill treatment.
Many had been used as 'capital' by their husbands who send them to work abroad as migrant workers as house maids in Saudi Arabia and use their wives` monthly income even to get married to another woman.

Some, after all the money sent home, they were divorced by their husbands.
They are often defenseless.
They are unaware of their rights as housewives, or not courageous enough to take actions.


Now, West Nusa Tenggara, one of the 33 Indonesian provinces, had banned recruitment of its residents for work in Saudi Arabia following Sumiati's high-profile abuse case.
Meanwhile, it is in the process of providing halfway house to shelter abused maids hailed from West Nusa Tenggara.
The house will also serve as a pre-departure centre for future domestic maids.

The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration is likely to ban parents with children under the age of 5 from working abroad, unless they can show proof that their children’s nutritional needs would be taken care of.
It was noted that children suffering from malnutrition tended to come from the families of migrant workers.

These migrant workers mothers left their children in the care of elderly relatives who often failed to provide adequate nutrition for the children.
The kids were more likely to be fed the same food that the elders were eating themselves, which is lacking in the nutrients required for growing children.

Last year, data collected from 10 districts in West Nusa Tenggara recorded 756 cases of children suffering from malnutrition, including severe forms of protein-energy malnutrition.
25 have since died.
There were 926 cases recorded during 2009 and 1,207 in 2008.

United Nations Children’s Fund report in January 2010, found that at least 7.6 million Indonesian children suffered from stunted growth, a primary manifestation of malnutrition.
Worldwide, Indonesia ranked the fifth largest number of children under the age of 5 suffering from stunted growth.

******

On November 26, An Indonesian maid of two weeks had suffered broken bones after jumping three floors down from her employer's house in Al-Salam, Northern Jeddah.
Then she hid herself under a parked car.
In a police report, her employer had, two days earlier, intended to return her to the agency for her unsatisfactory work performance.

A 29-year-old Indonesian maid is currently in intensive care after jumping from the third floor of a building while trying to run away from her sponsor of three months in the Al-Kakiya district of Mecca.
She is thought to have fractured some bones and suffered internal bleeding.

On December 3, a maid, said to be Indonesian, fell to her death from the window of a third-floor apartment in Jeddah.
She had attempted to escape using a rope of knotted clothes.
The maid's body is currently at the Forensic Medicine Administration for further forensic examination.

******

Maid Abuse Rampant In Region, Says Magazine

JEDDAH: A Saudi women’s magazine has published an article highlighting the abuse of maids and the need to find solutions to the problem, not just in the Kingdom but across the region.

According to the article in Sayidaty magazine (a sister publication of Arab News), many housemaids across the region are abused in a variety of ways from physical abuse to not being provided with food. It also adds that such maids have no rights and that they hardly see justice except when a major development occurs.
“Local newspapers have recently been publishing a lot about maid abuse in the Kingdom and this is where we decided to not just write about the horror stories but also find solutions to the problem,” said Mona Siraj, managing editor of Sayidaty magazine in Jeddah.
“Our responsibility as a magazine that cares for social issues is to give our readers the perfect and real picture … in addition to allowing the authorities and human rights’ bodies to respond,” she added.
According to the article, there are some 2 million housemaids in the Kingdom, 660,000 in Kuwait and 79,000 in Bahrain. In the United Arab Emirates, housemaids outnumber families. It said in Egypt there are 177 recruitment offices, of which only three are legal.
“Until now, there aren’t any regulation that protects both the maid and the employer and we are demanding this to assure security for both sides,” said Siraj. “I believe that these problems should be out in the public to spread awareness in society. We are giving the opportunity through the magazine to both sides to know their rights.”
In Saudi Arabia, a maid had her lips cut out and abused in other ways for misbehaving. Maids are beaten with electric cables for breaking cups in Egypt, thrown out in the streets in Bahrain and locked indoors in the Emirates, reports Sayidaty.

Source: Arab News - January 19, 2011

 

The Haj - The Long Awaited, Short Journey (By Train)

The area for tents in Mina has decreased by 30 percent this year due to the various ongoing construction projects, including the SR6.5 billion Mashair Railway (Makkah Metro). 
Thus it has limited the number of Haj pilgrims - 1.75 foreign and 250,000 locals - although every year, 3.5 million people would perform their Haj.

Eidul Adha will fall on November 16.

210,000 Indonesians will be performing their Haj this year, followed by the Indians and the Pakistanis, at 160,000 each, 100,300 pilgrims from Iran and 100,000 from Turkey.

******

More than 150,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries will use the facility during the first phase as these pilgrims account for 73 percent of domestic pilgrims and it will help to withdraw about 53,000 buses and other vehicles being used by pilgrims coming by land from within the kingdom and neighboring GCC countries.
780,000 pilgrims from Iran, Turkey, Europe, Australia, US and those from non-Arab African countries will also be using the facility.

The system will enable to ferry 70,000 pilgrims between the holy places within an hour or at least 500,000 within six to eight hours.




The railway will reduce the time it takes for pilgrims to move from Arafah to Muzdalifah to five minutes on the 9th of Dzulhijjah.
It will also take pilgrims five minutes to move from Muzdalifah to Mina on the 10th.
About 20 percent of passengers will be seated and 20 percent of seats in the train will be allocated for the elderly while it moves at between 80 and 120 km/hour.

Nine stations had been constructed in Arafah, Mina and Muzdalifah, each having its own three stations.
The railway which would be operating throughout the year will have 12 carriages and each carriage holding 250 passengers.

The system would be developed further to transport three million pilgrims in the future and would bring about remarkable improvements in the transportation of pilgrims between the holy sites.

1,000 Egyptian drivers will operate the electric trains of the Mashair Railway.

These drivers are from more than 27,000 Egyptians employed specially for the Haj season, whom among them are veterinary doctors, bus drivers and butchers that had been recruited as seasonal workers - selected from 50,000 Egyptians' applicants.
This year, 80,000 pilgrims are from Egypt.

Foreign workers are imported because only a few hundred Saudis responded to advertisements that had been up for several months.

Mashair Railway will help reduce the number of vehicles on the road and ease the transportation of some 35 - 50 percent of 2010's Haj pilgrims.
The restriction on small vehicles entering Mecca and the holy sites called for stopping illegal vehicles carrying pilgrims at the first checkpoint to reduce pressure on the main checkpoint.

Studies are now underway on extending the monorail to a station on Umm Al-Qura Road, close to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and link it with the Haramain Railway that connects the two holy cities of Mecca and Madinah.
It will also be linked to the Haramain Railway that will connect Mecca to Madinah and Jeddah.

******

The Saudi government is taking all efforts to make this year's Haj to be hassle-free and smooth movement of pilgrims to the Jamrahs is top in the agenda.

Instructions are given and measures are taken to stop illegal pilgrims from squatting in public places which had been one of the key factor in previous Mina's stampede and trampling.

******

The monorail project which was implemented by a group of companies led by China Railway Company saw 1,600 of Chinese employed by the company converted to Islam in September.

The Government Islamic Guidance Centre in Makkatul Mukarramah said all the converts are workers in the train project that was launched three years ago.

“The Centre held a reception for nearly 1,600 Chinese who embraced Islam and gave them token gifts on the occasion of Eid al Fitr,” Al Madina daily said.
.